Marlon Samuels is a man for the grandest of stages, especially in a format that the West Indies love to call their own. As it turns out, both his highest impact T20I innings have now come in the finals of the ICC World Twenty20 – 2012 and 2016 – and they were both tournament-defining performances . His unbeaten 66-ball-85 took West Indies to their second global title in the game’s shortest format, defeating England by four wickets.

Samuels was the highest impact player, and batsman, of the final West Indies were 1 for 1 when he arrived at the crease and continued to lose wickets​ (they were 11 for 3 at one point)​. Samuels showed how he thrives in such situations – after all, he had the highest Pressure Impact in this West Indies XI – and proceeded to construct one of the most memorable chases. He scored 53% of the target by himself, built partnerships and stayed unbeaten as Carlos Brathwaite went on ​to ​unleash himself in the final over. Brathwaite’s cold-blooded pyrotechnics saw him finish with the highest Strike Rate Impact . He was also the second-highest impact player of the final (a​n unbeaten 10-ball-34, two top/middle-order wickets breaking a partnership in the process, and one lower-order wicket in a relatively restrictive spell).

Joe Root was the third-highest impact player of the final, and England’s highest impact player. His 36-ball-52 bailed England out of a sticky situation. They lost a wicket without a run on the board, and soon fell to 23 for 3. Batting under pressure, Root – with Jos Buttler for company – steadied the innings, scoring 35% of their runs (at a fast pace). He returned to claim two top/middle-order wickets, putting West Indies under pressure from the get-go.

David Willey was the highest impact bowler for his three top/middle-order wickets. He had the second-highest Economy Impact in the match, behind Samuel Badree.

Based on each side’s performance in the final, West Indies had a 40% higher impact than England. West Indies had six players with a Match Impact of more than 1 (minimum impact for a performance to not be deemed as a failure). England, in comparison, had only four such players. Stunningly, both teams had three players with a Match Impact of more than 5 (Marlon Samuels, Carlos Brathwaite, Dwayne Bravo, Joe Root, David Willey and Jos Buttler) but the support performance of Badree tilted the scales in West Indies’ favour. ​